John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I am replying to this matter on the Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney.

I thank Deputy Ring for raising this issue which provides me with an opportunity to update the House on this matter. The Government is committed to supporting people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where that is not feasible, the health service supports access to quality long-term residential care where that is appropriate. We continue to develop and improve health services in all regions of the country and to ensure quality and patient safety.

The Health Service Executive has operational responsibility for the delivery of health and social services, including those at facilities such as Belmullet Community Hospital. Belmullet Community Hospital is a single complex, consisting of 39 acute, step-down and respite beds together with the 37 bed long-stay residential care unit located at Áras Deirbhle on the same campus. It has an approved staff complement of 78, as measured in whole-time equivalents, which includes 33 nursing posts. The annual budget provided for the hospital in 2009 was just over €4 million. The centre is managed by a director of nursing under the line management of the manager for older people services.

The Deputy will appreciate that all developments have to be addressed in the light of the current economic and budgetary pressures. The executive has been asked to make a rigorous examination of how existing funding might be reconfigured or reallocated to ensure maximum service provision is achieved. In particular, we need to ensure that the highest standard of care will continue to be provided to all patients in a safe and secure environment. Any decisions, therefore, taken by the executive must have regard to the current budgetary position and the current moratorium on the recruitment of nursing and non-nursing staff.

The local health manager has a clear responsibility to deliver services within allocated budgets, consistent with human resource directives with a view to ensuring that the highest standard of care continues to be provided to all patients in a safe and secure environment. This includes any decision on prioritising resources and the impact any decision has on the integrity of the services provided. This requires a stringent ongoing review of the application of the resources available. In this context, senior management, in association with the director of nursing, is considering the options available to it.

In recent days Belmullet Community Hospital has been the subject of speculation that there will be bed closures at the facility. The Minister, Deputy Harney, wishes to confirm to the House that at this time no decision has been made by the HSE to close beds at Belmullet Community Hospital. It has further advised that there will be no closure of beds at Áras Deirbhle. As soon as any decision is made on Belmullet Community Hospital or Áras Deirbhle, the people directly affected will be the first to be informed.

Our primary focus must be on patients. Quality care and patient safety come first and all patients should receive the same high standard of quality-assured care. It is essential to ensure that resources are appropriately channelled and that the changing needs of older people are suitably addressed.

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